Ryan Carter
Ryan Jonah Carter (Born 20th September, 198X in Lansing, Michigan) is an American racing driver, currently competing in the RLB IndyCar Series with Team Penske, driving the #3 car. Ryan made his IndyCar debut with the Forsythe Racing Team in IndyCar's first RLB-sanctioned event at Surfers Paradise in S1. He is currently tied with Phillip Chandler and Daryl Wickham for All-Time IndyCar starts at 37. Ryan is also related to current Honda F1 Racing manager, Lee Davidson. He is Lee's nephew. Early Years Born into a big family, Ryan is the youngest of 3 brothers. Starting karting at the age of eight after watching his brother Aaron at the track, Ryan would win the SKUSA Super Pro Title for JM Racing driving a Tony Kart Swedetech Honda at the age of 16, propelling him into car racing. Moving up into the IndyCar lights, Ryan would win the final race at of the season at Chicagland, finishing fourth in the standings and taking Rookie of the Year. Formula Atlantic After finishing the IndyLights season, Ryan subbed for injured Rudi Ogris at target motorsports in the final three races of the season at New Hampshire, Vancouver and Laguna Seca. On his Qualifying debut, Ryan took an expectedly poor 12th, more than half a second off team mate Kyle Owens, he would finish the race ninth, 3 laps down from eventual winner, James Howell. The next race at the street circuit in Vancouver saw Ryan in a much more comfortable enviroment, impressing many with a superb fourth place on the grid. The headline grabbing wouldn't end there however as Ryan would finish third in the race, taking home his first podium finish in only his second start. The final race of the season (And in the series' short-lived history) at Laguna Seca again saw Ryan excell in Qualifying, taking second place on the grid a tenth shy of Daniel Torise. His racepace however would not be as stellar, finding himself in eight place as the chequered flag fell. None-the-less, Ryan's strong performances off the ovals gave him an additional boost into the driver market for the next season. With RLB's purchase of the IndyCar league during the winter, it's believed Ryan had no less than three solid offers for a full time run at the series. Aged only 19, Forsythe Racing announced they had signed Ryan to partner fellow Atlantics graduate Tom Hacking for the upcoming season. IndyCar S1: The Forsythe Debut Ryan made his IndyCar debut aged 19 at Surfers Paradise with the Forsythe Racing team. Qualifying tenth, Ryan's first race would be cut short on lap 65 after a collision with another driver. At the first oval event of the season at Phoenix, both Forsythe cars woudl see themselves not set a laptime in Qualifying after similar mechanical problems, causing Carter to comment on his concerns for the race saying "I'm not feeling 100% comfortable with the situation we currently find ourselves in". Sadly for Ryan, it wasn't a mechanical reason that he would post up his second retirement of the season after a spin on Lap 115. Finishes of Tenth (Long Beach), Fifteenth (Nazareth), Fourth (Milwaukee) and Tenth (Bell Isle) would remain a good sample of Ryan's debut season thsu far, inconsistant rookie errors paving a less-than-favourable opinion. However, halfway through the season, ti was team mate Tom Hacking who got the cut from team boss Kalvin Filarski, with a close friend of Carter's, Chris Dishington, being his replacement. Forsythe's fortunes would soon rise after Dishington's arrival, both drivers finishing in the top six at Toronto, second for Dishington at Burke, before Foryshte woudl get their first win fo the season at Ryan's home circuit, Michigan International Raceway. However it would be Dishington again outperforming his team mate, leaving Ryan to continue to be faced with questions regarding his ability. Fourth place would be Ryan's best finishes of the season, achieved on three seperate occasions (Milwaukee, New Hampshire and Laguna Seca), his final position in the points standings was an alarming 12th. Carter would however be kept on for a secodn season of IndyCar, this time partnered with Scott Moore where he would enjoy a much more competitive year. S2: First Podium Ryan and Scott's performances during winter testing gave the Forsythe team renewed optimism that they could beat their previous season tally of a single win. The optimism would be duly rewarded at the first race at Bicentennial Park, if not fulfilled with Ryan finishing in sixth with Moore in second. The next race at Surfers would again seen Ryan simply outpaced by Moore even though Ryan vastly outperformed him in Qualifying. He woudl finally beat Scott at then ext race in phoenix, taking home fifth. Long Beach will be seen as a major breathrough for Carter, qualifying fifth, Ryan would drive a professional race, keeping the mistakes to a minimum in order to take home his best finish in the series to date, third. The next race at Nazareth saw Foryshte win with moore whilst Carter crashed with Ed Williams whilst running well in the Top 6, causing both drivers to retire. Ryan would then take part in his first ever Indy 500 event, however he would hardly be noticed after Qualifyign in 11th to finish 8th. After the event, Ryan annoucned he would take part in a single Road Race event in the NASCAR Nationwide Series later in the year. The next IndyCar race at Milwaukee saw Ryan return to the Top 5 with a fifth place finish before finishing sixth at Belle Isle. Portland would see him register another Top 10 with an ninth place finish before mechanical problems releated him to a 15th place finish at Road America. Following the race, Ryan began to talk of moves elsewhere, with both Formula One and other teams in IndyCar rumoured to be at the top of his agenda. Tests with the Ferrari F1 team (See Below) fueled rumours whilst his sponsorship by Red Bull led to expectations of him joining their Red Bull squad. Champions-elect Newman/Haas were also linked with the 20 year-old but not as seriously as elsewhere, including KV Racing and Rahal Letterman. Ryan's negative comments about hsi season with Forsythe didn't help matters. In an interview with Nestor Shylock, Ryan stated "Well, we had very high hopes at the beginning of the season and, well, perhaps looking back we may have been a tad bit overconfident. During winter testing the Ford engine worked brilliantly but as the season has gone on, it's lack of development coupled with mistakes and misfortune has led us down an alternative path.", causing more fears he was about to leave the IndyCar circuit. It was therefore quite a suprise when Carter announce in a pre-race press meeting at Toronto that he chose to sign a extension with the team, who also announced they were to be brought out by Roger Penske and his Team Penske racing group. This is believed to have been a major contributor into making Carter stick to America. Ryan would round off the season dissapointingly, 15th in Toronto, 9th at Burke, 13th at MIS and Mid-Ohio, 17th at New Hampshire, 20th at Vancouver (after a 1st lap collision again with Ed Williams) and 9th at the season finale at Laguna meant Ryan would match his previous season's finish of 12th in the standings. S3: Team Penske Ryan starts his thrid season in IndyCar with the Team Penske squad, after they took over the Forysthe Racing team during the winter. A change to Honda engines gave Ryan new enthusiasm going into the season, however, so far things have gone too well for the Michigan native. Best finishes of sixth at both Bicentennial Park and Nazareths are the only highlights in an otherwise character-testing season thus far with Ryan laying in 14th after the first five races. Formula One Ryan has tested for both BMW Sauber and Ferrari in the previous 3 seasons. He was also rumoured to be joining the latter at the end of S9 when Matt Webb decided to call time on his career, however Brazilian world champion Eduardo Liguori took the seat. Sex Scandal And Ferrari Sacking Ryan was involved in a sex scandal at the start of this season (IndyCar S3) where it was reported in the News Of The World that he was involved in a 'Nazi Style Orgy'. Despite the report having no solid evidence and Ryan's continued claim on the story indeed being false, Ferrari dropped him from their test driver role with Chris Homan being Ryan's replacement; "Scuderia Ferrari wishes to announce the dropping of test driver Ryan Carter after lurid allegations over his private life were found to be going to print in the News of the World this weekend. We at Ferrari do not condone Ryan's private affairs with Prostitutes in Nazi style orgy's."'' - Chris Ford, Ferrari manager'' NASCAR Ryan has so far raced 1 round of the NASCAR Nationwide Series where he raced the #2 Red Bull-sponsored Richard Childress Racing entry. Carter lasted 18 laps before crashing out of fifth position during a battle with Carl Edwards. Racing Record Complete Championship Results FA S2 - Target Motorsports - 11th - 78pts (Points tally added with Rudi Ogris's, Ryan infact competed in only 3 events.) IC S1 - Forsythe Racing - 12th - 69pts IC S2 - Forsythe Racing - 12th - 65pts IC S3 - Team Penske - 14th - 16pts** (Season currently in progress.) Personal Information Ryan currently resides in the Grand Rapids area of Michigan. Ryan's borther Aaron was KIA during a routine humanitarian effort in China. Rumours have circulated in Ryan being in a relationship with current Red Bull Racing driver, Danielle Henson, although Ryan claims the two are just "good friends".